Saturday, December 24, 2011

The Wall Street Journal had two poignant stories this week about Marines.

The first one, on December 20th, titled "Happy Hanukkah, Marines! Jewish Leathernecks Light the Way," by William McGurn begins:

When Jews begin their Hanukkah celebrations this week, they will commemorate a 2,200-year old revolt led by Judah Maccabee against a Greek empire attempting to crush the Jewish faith. For some, the holiday holds an added resonance, linking their military service to one of the greatest Jewish warriors of all time.

These are the Jews of the United States Marine Corps.

In the popular mind, a Jewish Marine may sound exotic. In fact, Jews have their own chapters in the history of the Corps. In his book "Semper Chai!" Howard J. Leavitt explains the compatibility with a refreshing lack of nuance: "[M]any Jews were—and are—Marines, and the basic and lofty precepts and spiritual underpinnings of the United States, the U.S. Marine Corps and Judaism are one and the same, without any differences or conflict."

The second article, on December 24th, titled "Military Families Soldier On: Christmas Homecomings From Iraq Touch a Nerve for Kin of Troops in Afghanistan," by Tamara Audi begins:

This Christmas, Donna Jones is doing her best to avoid heartwarming scenes of military homecomings. It's not easy: Thousands of troops are reuniting with their families in a blur of on-camera kisses, and she works on a military base.

"There are all these holiday homecomings, and I'm happy that people get to see their loved ones. I just can't watch," Mrs. Jones said. "It hurts when the situation is: Your Marine isn't coming home."

Mrs. Jones's husband, Marine Maj. William Jones, is still deployed in Afghanistan—along with 91,000 other U.S. troops.

Thousands of service members have come home from Iraq, with the last U.S. troops exiting from the country in mid-December. But tens of thousands are still deployed elsewhere, many on the front lines in Afghanistan.

That means many families are facing a holiday season with a loved one still in a combat zone. As the nation celebrates the holiday homecomings, some fear these family members are being forgotten in the frenzy.

The second article also includes these statistics:

2.3 million -- Combined total of U.S. service members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan

164,000 -- Peak number of troops based in Iraq, reached in 2007

91,000 -- Troops remaining in Afghanistan

The one thing we back home can do is grant the wish of a military spouse reported in the second article:

We can acknowledge this holiday season that U.S. troops -- men and women -- are still in harm's way serving our country. And we can be grateful for their service and sacrifice as well as the service and sacrifice of their families.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

The following is a guest post from Christel B. D'Agostino, MSW, LCSW-R, CtH, a war trauma survivor who created her own Universal Vibrational Therapy TM. This therapy became the foundation for her method to heal the post-traumatic stress symptoms of present and past emotional trauma and is available on CD. See www.healingptsdtrauma.com and www.theuniversalvibrationaltherapy.com

Veterans, why would you suffer from PTSD while it is within your power to heal your post-combat stress for good?

It is time to reclaim your personal power. Hold on to the notion that healing your war trauma can be an empowering yet gentle experience.

I am a war trauma survivor. I know what I'm talking about. I have an intimate knowledge of the workings of a traumatized mind where heart and soul remain largely detached. Fleeting images of horrific scenes had been populating my mind with unfailing reliability.

Decades later, I came to realize that I had suppressed most traumatic events. I had been out of touch with the murderous rage locked up inside my body.

It took me years of professional training and exploring my own psyche to get to the point where I grasped what I was after: the healing of my war trauma.

It could not be accomplished through conventional therapies that I tried, like cognitive behavioral therapy, though I am grateful for the experience.

While growing up, war movies had been my own exposure therapy. I had learned that desensitization worked only for a particular movie but not for others.

However, I had become an expert in resilience. My camouflage worked like a charm while underneath a war of its own had been brewing.

At one point I became aware that the adrenaline rush of stressful situations made me feel fully alive. When I remembered my father's heart attacks in his early years, I realized that I needed to reduce my own stress level.

It led me to explore alternate healing techniques like transcendental meditation. I experienced that it reduced my stress level for the day. I needed more.

At some point I started to write about my war trauma. In an outburst of hate I accused my national family of having stolen not only my own but also the childhood of all other traumatized children.

After sitting court over the perpetrators and finding them guilty, I felt like a load had been lifted off my shoulders. I continued writing, and experienced a renewed onslaught of dark energies which were seemingly out to overpower me.

Initially I believed that these energies belonged to me. Then I reached the point where I realized that my thoughts and words had attracted harmful energies. They were not mine.

This realization turned out to become one of the cornerstones of my Universal Vibrational Therapy TM that I used to heal me. I have been trauma free for about 20 years now. So can you.

"Where there is a will, there is a way." I was holding on to this saying for many years. It would reinforce my determination not to give up.

While I was writing this article for you, veterans, I remembered these words. I want to encourage you to revive your hope and your determination to heal your post-combat stress. If you want me to, I'll show you the way.

I have already created the method. All you have to do is to follow it and allow yourself to be healed.

What is the obstacle? Afraid to relive horrific events? No need with my method. The Universal Vibrations gently transmute your toxic war energies and any other intrusive energies.

Are you depressed, not wanting to confront your inner rage, feeling guilty, ashamed, feeling afraid what you might discover about yourself? Have you lost faith in God?

My method is gentle. You do not need to relive your emotional trauma and invisible wounds. They will be transmuted through the Universal Vibrational Therapy TM. Your soul will be healed too.